A line in the drama where recruiters tell IU (Lee Soon Shin) to "just go protect Dokdo or something" as the punch line of a joke is under controversy for not only trivializing the Dokdo issue as a joke but humiliating the achievements Lee Soon Shin made in his lifetime.

1. [+1,103, -48] Not only this but there's also a line where they say "Then Lee Soon Shin is of course worth 10 cents, how would he ever be worth a dollar?" ;;;;;;; There are so many lines that just make you not want to watch this drama

2. [+1,085, -47] This pissed me off as well. Since when did Lee Soon Shin become someone to joke about?

3. [+1,038, -38] The scriptwriter has lost her brain

4. [+210, -4] Was it absolutely necessary to use such an important historical figure of our country as the lead character's name in a drama? The drama is not even historical or anything about historical facts... They really should've thought twice about using the name Lee Soon Shin.

DN reps, "When you search the name Lee Soon Shin online now, the results you get are about IU. King Sejong and General Lee Soon Shin used to be the #1 and #2 most respected figures among elementary school students, but they've now changed to Yoo Jae Suk and Kim Yuna. KBS is essentially recreating the image of Lee Soon Shin through this drama, and the consequences are severe. By the time this drama is done airing, Lee Soon Shin will be the equivalent of IU to students."

"Recreating Lee Soon Shin like this is an infringement upon his honor and all that he upholds for our country. KBS does not have the right sever what he means to Korea."

The reps go on to point out that this is exactly what Japanese right extremists are attempting to do and KBS is just doing it with their own money for them (rewriting history and erasing important historical figures). The reps raise their concerns over the drama being exported overseas and creating a trivialized image of Lee Soon Shin through IU and downplaying his esteem as a historical figure.

1. [+373, -17] I just thought about this and I got chills down my spine. IU's already advanced into Japan and Hallyu's the craze all over the world, this drama will 100% be exported. Then to other countries like China and Japan, when they think of the name Lee Soon Shin, it will not be our historical figure but an idol named IU.

2. [+319, -8] I, too, was worried over the impact this drama would have on Lee Soon Shin's name the minute I heard they would be using it. To the adults who are familiar with history, it might not be such a big deal, but to our children and to foreigners who don't know who Lee Soon Shin is, this will definitely have an impact in the way they perceive him. DN, thank you for bringing up such an important point!

3. [+310, -11] Are you kidding me... I just searched Lee Soon Shin and got IU as a result..........

1. [+411 , -12] I didn't think of this, but it's right. Seeing "IU" come up when you search Lee Soon Shin... The thought of it makes me nauseous.

2. [+313, -7] I didn't think the controversy was such a big deal until I read the article and their points and I completely agree, they're right.

3. [+290, -12] This organization knows what they're doing

4. [+62, -0] Wow, daebak. Their reason for this injunction is just too right to even think of retorting against. And this is my first time hearing about the DN and it seems their job is to protect Korean history. I love their cause.

5. [+53, -0] The drama was clearly made for export, and to think that they're taking our country's hero, Lee Soon Shin, but also Japan's greatest enemy, and turning him into some kind of joke... really makes me question the producers' intentions. KBS needs to think this over.

I kind of see where the concerns come from, but at the same time........... this drama obviously references Lee Soon Shin as someone important and part of the appeal of the name is there's a strong historical connection, so KBS in a way is making Lee Soon Shin relevant in a modern way. I'm not korean though so idk if it's a real issue worth fighting about or if netizens are overreacting.

IU's fault? You are such an idiot here. IU is just an actress not a scriptwriter, how come you criticized her in a very stupid and unfair way? You know haters gonna hate and always find something negative to say. pls find the major point and right person to criticize next time. Idiot!!

He was a Korean naval commander, famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty, and is well-respected for his exemplary conduct on and off the battlefield not only by Koreans, but by Japanese Admirals as well.

For a bunch of people who sure like making jokes, netizens sure like taking everyone else's jokes deadly serious. Oh but wait, the joke in the TV series isn't cruel and isn't bashing on any female idols, so of course netizens can't relate to it and don't like it. Netizens only like to make jokes when they can make a victim out of somebody with them.

Also just because a real person happens to share the same name as a fictional character I'm not sure if that qualifies the drama as "rewriting history". The fact that the joke referred to above was even MADE shows that this obviously isn't the case - it's a way of tipping the hat to the historical figure. A subtlety lost on the hive-mind. People in other countries may even learn about this figure BECAUSE of the drama but of course they didn't think of that either because LOOK IU IS DOING SOMETHING LET'S BASH HER.

A Navy Admiral that fight against the Japaneses when Korean(that time the name was Chosun) was invaded, if im not mistake he never lost a battle on sea. By coincidence i'm watching a drama about him right now xD

i don't think you understood what they were saying.... they're not making lee soon shin relevant in a modern way, atleast not the way everyone is hoping because of the fact that when you look up lee soon shin it relates to IU, not the historical figure. i guess you mean they're making the name, like the actual name lee soon shin relevant? lol and also the drama doesn't refer to him as someone important.. if you read the comments it says the lines where it looks like they're belittling lee soon shin and his achievements. or maybe i'm just reading your comment wrong.. hmm. hahah

finally the thing that bothered me. its not IU, an idol, being a female lead in weekend drama which will have over 40 episodes but when I first hear the news the drama title "The Best Lee Soon Shin" I went searched at google and find that he's a historical figure in SK. a male. how can that drama use IU, a young female, to be his 'modern day' character? at first I was like "oh maybe this drama will like that Sassy Girl Chunhyang drama, but Lee Soonshin is a guy!here is wikipedia page about Lee Soonshin:Yi Sun-shin (April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598, Korean: 이순신, Hanja: 李舜臣) was a Korean naval commander, famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty, and is well-respected for his exemplary conduct on and off the battlefield not only by Koreans, but by Japanese Admirals as well.and here the synopsis of the drama from asianwiki:Because of her father's sudden death, Lee Soon-Shin (IU) and her mother fall in trouble. They both attempt to find happiness, while Lee Soon-Shin falls in love. Meanwhile Shin Joon-Ho (Jo Jung-Suk) is the president of an entertainment management company. He is over confident, arrogant and cold-blooded. By meeting Lee Soon-Shin, he realizes the meaning of true success and also changes.

wtf?! whoever the female lead, I will also question the same thing. why the sriptwriter, director, kbs pdnim, use Lee Soonshin's name to be played as a young girl? where's the similarity?thankyou DN for bring up this.

isn't the premise of the name that the character's parents in the drama specifically named her after lee soon shin? so lee soon shin the person is referenced, it's not like they're treating it as a random name that sounds funny (like how "sam soon" was used in "my name is kim sam soon").

I agree that joke about "just go protect dokdo or something" is bad because KBS should've known what a sensitive issue it is. really what KBS should do is promise to donate part of the proceeds to a historical preservation organization and then work more to do advocacy around the real lee soon shin and his achievements on the drama's website and promo.

I understand the concerns but if a great historical figure is going to be forgotten because of a drama then there's an underlying issue there that needs to be fixed and it isn't going to happen by changing the name of the character in the drama.

I bet the joke is said by character that supposed to be bad. Is it a normal thing for bad people saying/doing something bad in drama or movie? That doesn't mean that drama support that kind of behavior.

Not really. You know, as a foreigner I didn't know who Lee Soon Shin is. And I did search him on google. The result is, only one article in the first page, talking about the commander. And it's wikipedia one. Other articles are about the drama. So, I think I can understand why k-netizens are so "butthurt" about this. He is national hero for them.

And also, I didn't think that they were bashing IU. It's more on the scriptwriter.

I didn't know who Lee Soon Shin is either. Now I do. I'll bet the same goes for at least 95% of non-Koreans reading this, if they're being honest. Which just proves my point. Think about that for a while. Take as long as you need.

Well it's clear that they're misusing Lee Soon Shin's name so the drama has to stop using his name to keep his reputation. So it makes sense that they're demanding the drama to stop using the historical figure's name.

But that's the point of Google. The put related searches at the top for by monitoring your searches etc. The wiki result will come out as the few top searches b/c its wiki. If you want better results, you'll need to be specific in what you are searching.

Plus, different country, different results. Maybe a historical figure to Koreans but is a minor dot in the sea of thousands upon thousands of historical figures that came from all over the world.

I would agree with you if it weren't for the fact that pop culture has taken over. American elementary school kids these days can't recite the names of America's founding fathers, but they know the names of the members of One Direction. They pay more attention to how they dress in school and having an iPhone (yes elementary school kids have them... I see little kids taking selfies of themselves at the park after 3pm) instead of learning their multiplication tables.

International fans don't know who Lee Soon Shin is and chances are, you wouldn't even bother looking his name up if this article was never posted.

Your ignorance and dismissal of Korean culture and history is appalling. Wtf is wrong with you.

Summary from Dramawiki: Lee Soon Shin goes through hardships after the death of her father. Soon Shin and her mother struggle to find happiness. Her love story continues in the mist of ups and downs of her life.

Lee Soon Shin is the youngest member of a successful family. Despite her family′s successes, however, she seems to have failed to inherit any talent, and is marked as an oddball though she remains a bright, lively and courageous girl. She then meets the head of an agency named Shin Joon Ho, and he turns her life around.

Shin Joon Ho is a confident, cold and competitive man who changes later after he begins to understand the real meaning of success through Lee Soon Shin.

Thank you. These netizens are so stupid. The man is already apart of history, so a bad joke or sensitive issue is not going to erase his whole legacy. The joke was probably in poor taste, but if a simple TV drama would change the impact of his achievements, then they have more problems than I thought.

i dont think they will mind because they will tell the story of his life and that education for people and kids who dont know who lee soon shin is, but this lee soon shin is nothing to do with that history and taking over search result, younger people in korea my dont know who lee soon shin anymore but IU insteadi know you fan of IU none of this article talk bad about IU they only want to protect their historical figure, open your eyes

No one would know or care who this general is if it wasn't for this drama. If anything it brings people to find out who he is. They reference hwe was a historical figure. So people will look him up. If a drama can change history then there is a bigger issue here.

DID AMERICA CRY WHEN THE MOVIE "Abraham Lincoln the VAMPIRE HUNTER" came out?? NOPE!!

Its just a drama. Holy shit you fucking netizens so fucking mad over any little thing..

there is a line like this"Then Lee Soon Shin is of course worth 10 cents, how would he ever be worth a dollar?"there are also a line "just go protect dokdo..and there are scene when they made fun of her "Lee Soon Shin" name

That's because people like you are only fans of K-Pop and Idols, who only like Korea because that's where their oppas live. If you actually would like Korea because of it's culture and history his name is one of the first things that will come up.

Get your history from search site. Fail on your countries education and the future of your country. Don't blame dramas or movies for trying to erase history. They can't if your schools are doing their fucking job.

Go watch the drama. They make fun of the main character. You don't even notice what they say about the general. You are so stupid lol... Get over it and worry about your countrie's education if it has to get its history from google..

Everyone know about him and vampire hunter and anything about him won't change it. We learned from books and school as you said. WHO CARES WHAT GOOGLE SAYS!! People get their info from wiki and that is made by anyone.

To counter KBS's drama there, either SBS or MBC should do another historical drama focused on the real Lee Soon Shin. I know they had one a long while back (somewhere during 2005 or so) but as a long-time reader of military history, Admiral Lee is actually really underrated for his achievements in all of naval history - heck, even a British Royal Navy vice admiral praised the man's skills of warfare when he read about it.

Someone needs to give another reboot of his journey against the Japanese invasion in the 1590s.

We're talking about a man who had zero naval training or combat experience prior to the invasion, yet he managed to constantly smash apart whole enemy fleets despite being terribly outnumbered and outsupplied, not to mention the fucking cowardly politicians hated him like the typical little jealous kiddies they were and still are today.

That scriptwriter probably slept through her history classes in school.

you know why they made fun of her "Lee Soon Shin" name ? it's because the girl herself cant live up hto her own name... the name eventually bring a lot of burdensome to her in her life... this what they want to portray in this drama.... and this drama is just in it 2nd episode....

To be precise, Dokdo is in a pretty big fishing area, not to mention it is believed to contain quite an amount of natural gas.

It's not merely just a matter of historical ownership, especially when you consider that resources worldwide are showing signs of draining. Lot of territorial disputes tend to occur partly due to resources.

If anything, the Japanese should be more worried with the Senkaku Islands/Diaoyu dispute with the PRC.

YOU STUPID THIS DRAMA AIR IN TIMESLOT WITH GUARANTEE 100% WILL GET 20% RATING, its second episode record lower than 2nd episode from 2 previous drama before this prove they give a fuck, and even ep.1 they can't continue no.1 strike in rating from 2 previous drama

I think the writers made a tasteless joke and they need to be more careful with what they put in their scripts. But who knows this could have been intentional to garner publicity.

Anyway, something good came out of this mess. More non-koreans like myself now know who lee soon shin actually is. And yeah If a drama erases the accomplishments of a national hero, I think there are more problems that need to be addressed in that culture tbh. I don't really know how one drama has the power to effectively ruin someone's history. I don't know from looking on the outside, it doesn't seem incredibly serious. Maybe I'm missing something?

I consider him a guy that was selfish, but ended up creating good things. He fought for awhile to preserve slavery and was indifferent to the plights of black people. The main reason why he wanted to end slavery was because he wanted to weaken the confederacy. Basically, he wanted to punish the south for trying to separate from the Union. It's awesome that slavery ended, but his reasons are kinda shady. He treated native americans like shit, but really which president sadly hasn't. He's more like a grey character in my honest opinion.

KBS weekend dramas aired in 7.55PM timeslot always have great ratings; they have no competitors, no other dramas aired in this timeslot.

I first learned about Lee Soon Shin from Kim Myung Min's interview (the reason why he accepted the offer to portray Admiral Lee Soon Shin in 2004 KBS drama "The Immortal Lee Soon Shin") and I remember him saying that "in Korea, he is the first hero that a child learns about."

So I fully understand the netizens' wrath, they feel like this drama is mocking the hero that they first learned in their childhood. In the drama, IU's character name was named after Admiral Lee Soon Shin:

"Sun-shin was named after the famous Admiral Yi Sun-shin, a name given by her grandmother so that her mother would have a son. But her name has a loftier meaning - believe in oneself even in the face of great difficulties and pain. " cr: english[.]kbs[.]co[.]kr/tv/characters[.]html?tv_code=22

If only "The Hidden Story of Lee Soon Shin" staring Uhm Tae Woong which is due to be aired on SBS this year didn't lose its funding, then SBS will counter-attack this KBS drama.

U More DUMB ASS, with that higher 1st EPISODE FROM PREVIOUS DRAMA THEY CAN'T GET ALSO HIGHER 2ND EPISODE THAN PREVIOUS DRAMA PROVE KOREAN CONCERN FOR THIS CASE, AND SUNDAY EPISODE ALWAYS RECORD HIGHER THAN SATURDAY WITH AROUND 5% JUMP IN RATING BUT THIS ONLY 2% JUMP

Seriously, I wholeheartedly agree on your point. IU fans just want to vote you down. This wouldn't affect for example an adult who was fully respected Lee Soon Shin since they were young (The majority of Korean students picked him as the role model about the time when they were young), but this drama would greatly impact young children whose demographic seems to be losing their knowledge on important historical figures whereas their interest in entertainment is increasing (Yu Jae Suk is their most popular role model). As a result, these growing students would associate IU with Lee Soon Shin... This is a sad occurrence indeed.

Those drama viewers are dominated by middle aged women, not a diverse demographic. Rating-wise, those dramas rank the highest, but they do not create the palpable popularity that we know. For example, Secret Garden was not the highest rated drama of 2011 of around 30% (Smile, Donghae was the highest with average of 37%), but SG was the most sensational drama. Smile Donghae got high ratings but not many people talked about it in real life. SDH was broadcasted during weekend golden-time slot, which is famed for always making dramas rate highly no matter what, and Lee Soon Shin drama is also aired at that time. So it is inevitable that the drama will get high ratings even if the plot sucks.

So your point is underestimating Lee Soon Shin? Say, John F Kennedy's name is used as a random drama's character name. There is quite a controversy about it, and would you like it if a foreigner was like "Oh who cares about John F Kennedy? No non-American cares about him."? You can't judge another country's cultural/historical uniqueness based on YOUR OWN PERSPECTIVE.

Have you seen the drama?? No one is making fun of Lee Soon Shin!! They are making fun at IU for being named after such a great general and she is so pitiful. She is a loser named after such a great man. So they make fun of IU!!! HOLY FUCK WATCH THE DRAMA. lol you're such a dumb ass..

You are the butthurt one -___- Just don't comment about another culture based on YOUR OWN perspective. You don't know anything about the Korean culture, do you? The Korean education system continues to teach young children about the General Lee Soon Shin, but it's just that these young kids care less and less about history, while their interest in the entertainment is increasing.

"a bad joke or sensitive issue is not going to erase his whole legacy. "

WOW REALLY? SHUT YOUR STUPID MOUTH YOU ASSHOLE. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT. YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA HOW LEE SOON SHIN IS RESPECTED IN THE KOREAN CULTURE. I CAN'T BELIEVE HOW IGNORANT YOUR COMMENT IS

So what's the point of bringing up this time? They already announce the launch of this drama last year, so why not complain before this drama aired on National TV and kids in Korea didn't know how to read books or didn't listen to their teachers?? so why blame this drama? this drama can't change the past.

but the joke is said by the one who supposed to be bad character in drama right? it is normal for bad char. to say something bad. it is their role. That doesn't mean the drama is supporting that behaviour.

but the joke is said by the one who supposed to be bad character in drama right? it is normal for bad char. to say something bad. it is their role. That doesn't mean the drama is supporting that behavior.

IT IS JUST A JOKE!! And its not even really directed to him. It can be viewed different ways. IF KOREAN CULTURE CAN BE BROUGHT DOWN BY A FUCKING DRAMA THEN IT SHOULD BE BROUGHT FUCKING DOWN!! PATHETIC SHIT!!

The representative from “DN” continued, “On a survey, it was found that over 50% of elementary students do not know what March 1st Movement is, and 70% do not know how to accurately draw the national flag.

WTF with their education... don't blame a weekend drama on education failure

tv take part on education when the drama itself make fun of their own historical figure how that younger people will respect him, that netizen prevent that from happen that why they protest..you only talk based on your culture and korean has their own culture dont force what you think based on your own culture

who gives a fuck, face reality people and get on with ur lives, none of these things can possibly affect u personally, nor does it affect people who revere historical figures. its time to move on and leave the hate behind, being self concious would get u nowhere.

I have a right to say anything I damn well please and if you disagree then that's your problem. Your only retort to my comment was cursing and acting belligerent to prove your ignorance. If you think you're so smart, then you shouldv'e responded intelligently and educate me. Since you didn't, I'll just have to believe that you are in fact as stupid as you sound.

That's exactly my point, if pop culture has taken the place of educational knowledge then the attitude towards it is what needs to be fixed and not the pop culture itself.

And saying that my ignorance and dismissal of Korean culture and history is appalling when you've *just* brought up the fact that this is a world wide epidemic in which people are forgetting the great leaders of history in favour of boy bands is odd. For the record I would have understood if people complaining about the joke but complaining that this drama is going to wipe out great historical figures from people's mind is what my comment was aimed at.

Why people start complaining now? Cause there's only ahjumma and iu fans watch this drama. It's all about the "Name". Korean are really respectfull towards their historical features. I'm not korean, but if this happened in my country as well, it would be a problem. Kids nowdays are so careless what a historical heroes do for their country. Our country's also colonized long time ago. So we're really thankful and respect them.

I just know now because of the drama that an important Korean General named Lee Soon Shin exists, just feels like they are calling me dumb, they think as a foreigner I can't understand that IU is playing a character that has the same name of an famous Korean General that is loved in Korea.

I love Yoo Jae Suk, he's an incredible man, what's the problem if he's one of the most respected figures among elementary school students?He is alive today and his attitudes are a great example for kids.

I said I used google because in the article, they said K-netizens already searched it, maybe using Nate or Naver. And it's still only about the drama. But maybe I was wrong, sorry. Thank you for enlighten me.

I wouldn't blame it all on pop culture, you know. I'e been living my teens around smart phones, brand clothes and celebrities but I didn't turn out half bad. I'd blame parents and the education system for all the bad stuff happening not pop culture.

Napoléon is not as respected by us as you think he is. He made a coup d'état, shat on the République, retablished slavery, made us at war with almost all the neighbouring countries, restricted women's rights, etc. And he's plenty laughing stock, overly self-absorbed people are often depicted under his traits.

And I for one loved Marie-Antoinette by Sofia Coppola, but I'm not enough of an idiot to start thinking the historical figure danced to rock music and wore Converse shoes.

Hmm it looks like your website ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I'll just sum it up what I had written and say, I'm thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog blogger but I'm still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips for rookie blog writers? I'd certainly appreciate it.

You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something which I think I would never understand.It seems too complicated and very broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I'll try to get the hang of it!

Netizen Buzz

Disclaimer

Just a friendly reminder... Comments on this blog do not represent the majority opinion of Koreans and should not be taken as an example of Korean sentiment on any of the topics presented. They are just one facet, one view of the many different views that exist. Please read the FAQ for more info.

- Don't feed the trolls in the comments.- Please be respectful to one another.